'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Review/Recap: "Jake and Sophia"

Marcela Lima ’18 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

Puns, surprises, and a whirlwind of emotions: in other words, a successful episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. This episode bring a special guest star: Eva Longoria playing the part of Sophia, Jake Peralta’s (Andy Samberg) new love interest.
The episode starts out with Sergeant Jeffords (Terry Crews) encouraging Peralta to start dating again. After Jeffords pointed to the beautiful Sophia, Peralta was immediately interested. It didn’t take long before they were out on a date and experiencing excruciatingly hot chicken wings. Like Jeffords and his wife bond over Meatloaf (the band, not the food), Peralta and Sophia bond over spicy wings.
This is the first time that we see Peralta finally attempting to date again after his brief relationship with Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero). The audience wants to see Peralta succeed. He hasn’t been the same womanizing and slick detective ever since the last episode of season one where he told Santiago that he had feelings for her (but quickly recanted his thoughts after she didn’t express the same views).

Though we’re happy to see Peralta moving on from Amy, we are shocked when the new defense attorney happens to be his new girlfriend, Sophia. Cops and attorneys dating is a huge taboo in the law enforcement world. Sergeant Jeffords puts this surprise into context when he blatantly tells Jake that he “literally slept with the enemy.” (This also happens to be an example of the puns we know, love, and expect from this show).
In this episode, we also see Amy beginning to transform from uptight and overwhelmingly motivated to more relaxed and focused on being a better detective. While she didn’t want to be the union representative because it could hinder her chances of becoming a captain later in life, Captain Ray Holt (Andre Braugher) quickly convinced her that this representative job could lead to some great opportunities.
Within the theme of transformations, is Peralta’s. He promises himself and his detectives that he can be mature and serious. Hey, stop snickering. Give Peralta some slack…

The verdict of the case that Jake and Sophia are butting heads in comes up as (Plot Twist!) not guilty. Within a show where we can usually expect what’s going to happen, this was a surprise to the audience. The good guy usually wins, but not this time. Peralta was clearly disappointed, but after some introspection (not characteristic of Peralta), he realizes that he can continue a relationship with Sophia despite their difference.
This episode, overall, displayed some new sides of the characters, mainly Amy and Jake. Amy learned to let go and focus on something besides her future, and Peralta lived up to his promise of becoming more serious and mature. We like this side of Peralta, but the goofy and childish side is a bit more entertaining. While this episode strayed from the normal characteristics of the officers, it was great to see a new perspective
Overall Episode Grade: B+